The present invention is directed generally to fiber optical components, and more particularly to an assembly for mounting fiber collimator sub-assemblies.
Optical fibers find many uses for directing beams of light between two points. Optical fibers have been developed to have low loss, low dispersion, polarization maintaining properties and can be incorporated into several different types of devices, such as amplifiers, filters, lasers and interferometers. As a result, optical fiber systems find widespread use, for example in optical communications.
There are several optical components, however, that are important for use in fiber systems or in fiber system development, and that are not implemented in a fiber-based form where the optical beam is guided in a waveguide. Instead, these optical components are implemented in a bulk form, and through which the light propagates freely. Examples of such components include, but are not limited to, filters, isolators, circulators, polarizers, switches and shutters. Consequently, the inclusion of a bulk component in an optical fiber system necessitates that the optical fiber system have a section where the beam path propagates freely in space, rather than being guided within a fiber.
Free space propagation typically requires use of collimation units, also known as collimator sub-assemblies, at the ends of the fibers to produce collimated beams. Therefore, a device may have a collimator sub-assembly at each end, defining one or more collimated beam paths to their respective fibers. One difficulty in manufacturing a fiber optic device is ensuring that the collimated beam paths from the two collimator sub-assemblies overlap one another and are parallel to each other. This leads to complex and often, therefore, labor intensive procedures for aligning modules that contain sub-assemblies.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved approach to coupling collimator sub-assemblies.
One particular embodiment of the invention is directed to an optical device that has a first collimator sub-assembly having a first free-space end, and a second collimator sub-assembly having a second free-space end opposing the first free-space end of the first collimator. A central housing has first and second ends and is disposed between the first and second collimator sub-assemblies. A first ring on the first collimator sub-assembly is mounted to the first end of the central housing and a second ring on the second collimator sub-assembly is mounted to the second end of the central housing.
Another embodiment of the invention is directed to an optical system, that includes an optical transmitter producing output light and an optical receiver receiving at least a portion of the output light. An optical fiber link couples between the optical transmitter and the optical receiver. The optical fiber link includes a fiber device having a first collimator sub-assembly with a first free-space end, and a second collimator sub-assembly with a second free-space end opposing the first free-space end of the first collimator. A central housing has first and second ends and is disposed between the first and second collimator sub-assemblies. A first ring on the first collimator sub-assembly is mounted to the first end of the central housing and a second ring on the second collimator sub-assembly is mounted to the second end of the central housing.
Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of manufacturing a fiber device. The method includes providing a first and a second collimator sub-assembly, each collimator sub-assembly being provided with rings on outside surfaces of respective sub-assembly housings. A central housing is placed between the first and second collimator sub-assemblies. A first mounting face of the ring of the first collimator sub-assembly is attached to a first end of the central housing. A second mounting face of the ring of the second collimator sub-assembly is attached to a second end of the central housing so that light passes in free space between the first and second collimator sub-assemblies.
The above summary of the present invention is not intended to describe each illustrated embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. The figures and the detailed description which follow more particularly exemplify these embodiments.